Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – In 10 seconds or less, name the Number One buyer of Canadian soybeans in 2020. Japan? The United States? China? The answer is Iran. Why it matters: Canada has struggled to replace soybean demand from China since it disappeared in 2019. From January to the end of September, Iran bought 383,000 tonnes […] Read more
Author Archives
Canada has new top soybean buyer
Iran purchased 383,000 tonnes of soybeans from January to the end of September, worth $181 million
Neonic ban decision expected in six months
Health Canada said it now has further information to consider in making its decision
Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia — Health Canada is expected to make a decision on neonicotinoid insecticides in about six months. Federal scientists have studied neonics and their potential impact on aquatic insects for years. The final judgment was scheduled for this autumn, but now won’t happen until the spring. “Due to the vast amount of new information […] Read more
National potato harvest declines
Dry summers in Ontario, Quebec and Maritime cut into yield
Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Canadian potato production will decline this year, possibly by six per cent or more. A hot and dry summer, especially in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes, cut into potato yields across the country. Why it matters: Potatoes are a high value crop for the areas across the country where they are produced. […] Read more
Sow exercise benefits found lacking
Researchers wanted to know if a middle ground solution between stalls and open housing was a reasonable option
Reading Time: 4 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Pregnant sows have an intrinsic desire to leave their stalls, say swine health experts at the University of Saskatchewan. But giving sows periodic freedom to leave stalls and move about the barn doesn’t significantly improve the lives or welfare of the animals. Why it matters: Animal welfare is a key concern for […] Read more
Group sow housing deadline could be pushed back
The National Farm Animal Council has recommended a new 2029 deadline
Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Pig producers in Canada may have another nine years to convert their barns to group sow housing. A report from the National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC) on the codes of practice for raising pigs in Canada has recommended pushing back the deadline from 2024 to 2029. A five-year review of the […] Read more
Cost puts brakes on farm technology adoption
Companies that want to sell to farmers have to demonstrate value of technology
Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Most farmers in southern Ontario grow soybeans and corn. Meanwhile, the typical farmer in Saskatchewan produces canola, wheat, barley and probably a pulse crop. Yet the two share similar concerns about adopting agriculture technology. Why it matters: Precision tools are becoming increasingly important to efficient, sustainable farming, yet many producers remain concerned […] Read more
McCain builds farms to showcase sustainable practices
The company has committed to reducing the impact of its potato operations
Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier Farmmedia – McCain Foods says it is building the farm of the future. The New Brunswick company announced in mid-July that it wants potato production to be more sustainable. To that end, McCain’s is establishing three Farms of the Future to learn how regenerative agriculture and innovation can work at scale in potato farming. […] Read more
Is the transgenic era over?
New genetic technologies, especially editing, could make genetic modification a rarely used tool
Reading Time: 5 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – The era of genetically modified crops may be over. Two and half decades after herbicide-resistant crops came onto the market, scientists have now adopted newer techniques to design crops. That’s because the new technologies are more efficient and partly because the strict regulations on GM crops have become a barrier to innovation. […] Read more
Turkey farmer donation helps young people
Kids Help Phone and 4-H Canada will be the beneficiaries
Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – COVID-19 has been a weird and stressful time for most Canadians. Social isolation and incessant news about the pandemic can affect people in different ways, particularly kids, who may not have someone to talk to. That’s why Turkey Farmers of Canada has donated an additional $80,000 to Kids Help Phone and 4-H […] Read more
The long route to biological approval
Promising biological pesticide is 26 years in the development and approval process so far
Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Allen Xue is a patient man. About 26 years ago Xue discovered a novel fungus on the lower leaf of a field pea plant, while he was working as a plant pathologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Morden, Man. Xue later learned the fungus, a strain of Clonostachys rosea called ACM941, […] Read more
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